Rating: 
Summary: Million Dollar Genius
Review: They say that 'Real artists don't know they are artists". Usually, the corollary is also true: those arrogant enough to make the claim of greatness for themselves are typically judged otherwise by history. Not willing to allow posterity the final judgement, Daniel Libeskind and wife/partner Nina recently demanded (under threat of lawsuit) an additional $1 million dollar 'Genius Fee' from Ground Zero Developer Larry Silverstein, who replaced the pouting designer with another firm. Add to this that Daniel and Nina hypocritically sub-contracted the design of their New York City apartment to another architect (evidently they weren't able to do it themselves, or - more interestingly - to let anyone in their office handle it), and you can see why they are the laughingstock of the architectural profession. Libeskind's meritless fame owes more to outrageous and clownish antics, than designing buildings of long-term merit. A dab hand at slick images, his few built works already have the depressing aesthetics of run down bunkers. Understandably, he would not to want to live in one himself.Great cities, (Paris, Rome, Barcelona come to mind) are marked by a consistency of character, the architect's inventiveness displaying itself in subtleties and refinements to the dominant harmonious qualities. Streets in particular benefit from commonality of scale and materials that develop a strong sense of place. The skillful designer learns to be spectacular while not destroying what is already in place. (Think of Carlo Scarpa's work in historical centers, and you'll see what I mean.) - Not so for Libeskind, who offers disharmony, disjunction, destabilization, crass geometry and historical ignorance as though it were a way forward for the urban problems we face today. A disrespect for context and regional character marks the diagrammatic formalism of his lumpen and unsophisticated modeling. This tedious volume chronicles in amusing and nonsensical prose, the unverifiable suppositions that underpin Libeskind's anti-urban, anti-architecture, anti-human designs. It is dressed up in fanciful, glossy graphics of course, but these are the gimmicks that impress (as magpies are attracted to any bright and shiny thing), juvenile, but unrefined minds. If the Libeskinds deserve a 'Genius Fee', it should be for the PR exercise that enabled them to promote this aesthetically illiterate foolishness for financial gain, (now marketed at $1 Million Dollars). But this latest cocky arrogance draws attention to them for the skilled commercial opportunists they are. In Europe, Daniel and Nina managed to fool some of the people for some of the time. Thankfully, more savvy Americans were not so easily deceived by the Libeskinds' entertaining but ultimately laughable circus act. If you must see this show, please remember to throw some peanuts to the monkeys.
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